NEW YORK — Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff didn’t think much about the milestone upon being appointed the first women to co-anchor a national daily news program on television — until flowers filled their offices and strangers offered congratulations.

The veteran journalists will co-host NewsHour on PBS beginning today. They will be the faces for a newscast known for many years as the home of founders Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer.

In 2006, Katie Couric became the first woman to solely anchor a national newscast, the CBS Evening News. Ifill was surprised by how many people made a big deal of two anchorwomen when PBS announced the change in early August.

“I’m very touched by that,” the 57-year-old said. “I’m most touched by young women who stop me on the street and tell me how happy they are about this. I’m amazed at the investment people have in this.”

After the retirement of Lehrer two years ago, Ifill and Woodruff were part of a five-person anchoring rotation with Jeffrey Brown, Ray Suarez and Margaret Warner. Two worked each night, depending on their schedules.Nothing was wrong there, executive producer Linda Winslow said, but she concluded that a regular team makes for a sharper identity; people are more likely to say they watch Brian Williams, for example, instead of the NBC Nightly News.

The new anchorwomen have lengthy Washington resumes. Woodruff was a White House correspondent for NBC News during the Carter administration and has two stints at PBS with 12 years at CNN in between. Ifill started in print, working at The Washington Post and The New York Times before joining NBC News, then PBS in 1999. Ifill hosts Washington Week, meaning that, on Fridays, Woodruff will fly solo on NewsHour.

Both say they share sensibilities and news instincts.

“She’s exactly the kind of person you’d want to have by your side if there’s a big, breaking story,” Woodruff, 66, said of her partner. “You want to be beside someone you can trust, whose judgment you can trust.”

Winslow said it seemed to be the combination that clicked. The women think alike but have distinct styles. During interviews, Ifill is more conversational and Woodruff more questioning.“She’s leaning forward, and Gwen is more inviting you to come forward,” she said.

NewsHour anchors have often seemed more like solo artists than a team. An effort will be made, Winslow said, to have Ifill and Woodruff appear on-screen together more and interact.

The show helped draw attention to the pairing when Ifill and Woodruff interviewed President Barack Obama recently, with the poison gas attack in Syria the chief topic.

Both women were also named managing editors of NewsHour, joining Winslow in shaping the day’s broadcast.

“It means ... we’re not just thinking about our own segments within the show,” Woodruff said. “It means that every day you’re thinking about the whole program.”